Avalanche alerts start

The country’s vital winter avalanche service for walkers and climbers is to start this week.

The Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) said 20 people in total were caught up in humantriggered snow slides last winter, but with no fatalities

They had “very lucky escapes” after being caught in avalanches.

SAIS assesses avalanche hazards and provides daily information on the stability of snow in Scotland’s six mountain areas.

Its report said: “Some avalanche occurrences were minor, in that small releases occurred, but others were more significant and resulted in people being carried down by the avalanche, some with very lucky escapes.”